the Queen of Games
by TheCartoonusMaximus
Summary: Pharaoh Atemu has been the King of Games for many centuries, with no decent rival to challenge him... and no queen to rule beside him, either. What happens when he finally meets a person who just so happens to be both? Pairings inside.
1. Chapter 1

**So, this is the first chapter of a story I'm currently working on. I thought I'd throw it out here to test the waters, see if anyone was interested in reading the rest of it.**

**Pairings for this story include Puzzle/Blindshipping, Tender/Gemshipping, Bronzeshipping, some Polarshipping and eventual Azureshipping. Also, Ishizu and Odion are married and are not foster-siblings, Priest Seto (Seth) and Kisara are married, and Mahado and Mahna are engaged.**

**Also featuring fem!Yugi, fem!Ryou, and fem!Mariku, because they're so cute!**

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Chapter 1:

Atemu frowned as he stared out over the horizon from his stance on one of the castle's balconies. He was staying on the island known as Duelist Kingdom, a personal guest of the owner of both island and castle, Maximilian Pegasus.

"Seth," he asked, directing his words back to the room behind him. He didn't have to turn around to know that his cousin was sitting in the room with a book. "Tell me again: when are the chosen duelists going to arrive?"

Seth sighed, wishing he didn't have to repeat himself over and over like this. "Within the hour, my Pharaoh. So just relax and wait for the losers to arrive, alright?"

The young ruler of Egypt stayed where he was for another minute, then turned and walked back into the room, laying down on the bed, deciding to take a nap out of sheer boredom.

Seth, the High Priest of Egypt, couldn't help but roll his eyes. It was well known by everyone all over the world that Pharaoh Atemu was unbeatable at any game he played with anyone, even games that he'd never played before. He always won. Not only was he the King of Egypt, he was the King of Games as well. And he had been for the past several centuries.

Now Pegasus, an old friend of the pharaoh's court, was holding a contest on his island where only the best players could come and compete between one another for the title of the Duel Monster's Grand Champion. Duel Monsters was a game that Pegasus had created years before, basing the characters on the cards off of real monsters that Atemu and Seth and the rest of the court had summoned back in the days of the Shadow Games.

Atemu was hoping that perhaps some of the duelists that were coming to the island, or at least the Grand Champion, would be worth competing against.

Seth hoped that there would be some good competition, too. He was getting sick and tired of listening to his cousin complain about not having a proper rival.

Although, personally, Seth thought that his cousin needed a queen more than he needed a rival, as the young ruler remained unmarried as of yet. Atemu had been ruling Upper and Lower Egypt all by himself with help from no one save the members of his Sacred Court ever since his own parents had died, and that was just over 5,000 years ago!

Of course, Atemu hadn't aged a day since then, either. Neither had any of the members of his Sacred Court, which consisted predominately of members of the royal family; they were guarded against time by special magical spells and artifacts, chiefly the Millennium Items. Atemu had been living in the body of a young man, just barely out of his teens, for the past fifty centuries.

And in all that time he'd never found the right girl for him to marry.

Seth frowned to himself, wondering if the Pharaoh would ever find his Queen. Only then would the members of the royal court be allowed to age the way the rest of the world did. Such was the way of Egypt: they remained trapped in time until the ruler found a suitable bride.

Mahna raced in just then, squealing excitedly as she tackled the sleeping Pharaoh, who in his own turn let out a cry. "Oh, Atemu! Wake up, Pharaoh! Wake up wake up wake up!"

"MAHNA!" Atemu wailed as his ribcage was crushed by the eager magician-in-training who also happened to be his younger sister. "What – what is it?! What's got you so excited?!"

"The boat is arriving, big brother!" Mahna chirped as Seth tried to pry his little cousin off of their king. "The duelists have arrived on the island, and the games are about to start!"

Mahado, who was both another cousin (this time on the side of Atemu's mother instead of his father) as well as the man who was betrothed to Mahna, entered the room just then, Pegasus right behind him.

The royal magician's eyes widened when he saw what his fiance had been up to. "Mahna! Remove yourself from the Pharaoh this instant!"

His little girlfriend stuck her tongue out in his direction, to which he replied by wagging his finger in her face. Soon, the couple were in a corner of the room, bickering between one another.

"He's my brother! I can tackle him if I want!"

"He is our King, and should always be treated with the utmost respect! I still can't get over the way you behaved last night!"

"Look, all I did was ask him if he wanted me to wash his tighty-whities along with mine! I was just doing laundry! What's wrong with that?!"

"You asked him _in front of all the guests at our host's banquet and the entire castle staff, and you were **carrying** the basket of underwear around **with you**!_ You were parading the Pharaoh's unmentionables around a castle in which we are guests and there were many other people from other countries viewing both you and the basket of laundry. How do you not see the problem with this?!"

Pegasus watched them with some amusement. "You know, I believe they argue merely for the fun of it."

Seth growled under his breath. "Believe me: it's a lot less amusing after the first two hundred years."

The silver-haired man chuckled, then turned to Atemu, bowing as he spoke. "As I believe I heard the magician girl scream, the duelists have arrived and I am about to go out and greet them. Would you care to join me and see if there are any duelists worth your time?"

Atemu nodded, standing and approaching the wardrobe in the corner of the room. "Yes. I will join you. But remember: if you are to introduce me to anyone, introduce me as Yami Sennon, one of the visiting duelists."

He pulled clothing from the wardrobe as he spoke – a black tank-top and thin leather pants were thrown onto his bed, and they were soon joined by strange looking shoes with buckles on them and many, many belts.

Pegasus nodded, a smile playing on his lips. "'Yami,' hmm? It suits you. As you wish, Yami-boy."

Atemu snapped his fingers then, and soon a white-haired man slunk out of the shadows.

He smirked, making the scar on his cheek stretch and change shape. "You beckoned, your highness?"

"Yes, Bakura. I wish for both you and Malik to accompany me onto the dueling fields to study the challengers." Atem slipped behind a changing screen, removing his regal outfit and replacing it with the new set of clothing that he'd thrown together. He paused, then poked his head out and glanced around, a confused look on his face. "Where is Malik, anyway?"

Bakura frowned. "He raced off to go watch the duelists disembark from the boat. Something about spotting a 'pretty' something or other." He shrugged. "You know those eagle eyes of his; he probably saw some girl who's body he liked."

Atemu offered a wry smile, ignoring the look of disgust that passed over Seth's face. "Yes, you're probably right."

"Don't worry, Pharaoh," the white-haired man told him, his scar tilting with his smirk. "I'll catch up to him and explain your little plan to him." He motioned as if to push to the ruler out the door. "Now run along with Pegasus to see the prospective duelists, already! We haven't got all day!"

Atemu chuckled at the impatience of his bodyguard, who was also one of his oldest friends. "Alright, Bakura, I'm going!"

Soon, the young ruler stood in the crowd surrounding the castle, eager to see the new faces.

Perhaps, one of them would prove to be his perfect match.

**tQoG**

Bakura wove his way through the crowd, searching for his companion. "Malik!"

He almost tripped over one of the duelists, who was very small in stature. "Hey! Watch where you're going, you pathetic little worm!"

The duelist scowled up at him, pushing a pair of glasses further up his nose. "You watch where you're going, cretin!"

Bakura snarled and continued on, ignoring the obnoxious little bug. Eventually, he spotted a familiar face with blonde spikes sticking up into the air.

Malik was leaned against a nearby tree, his eyes set on a particular person. He had a particularly evil, desirous glint in his eye, which made him look much more dangerous than usual.

"Oi! Malik!"

The other bodyguard glanced up when he heard his name being called, an eerie smile on his face. "Yes, Bakura?"

The white-haired man frowned in distaste at his partner, guessing that he was probably stalking an unsuspecting victim. "What are you doing? Searching for just the right child to molest?"

Malik blatantly ignored him, going back to his stalking instead.

"Just don't do anything too stupid," Bakura muttered. "Listen: we have some orders."

**tQoG**

Duelists all gathered around the castle like a swarm of hungry locusts, listening eagerly as Pegasus explained all about his little competition. But, all to soon, his speech was over and the duelists scattered themselves around the island.

The Pharaoh and his two favorite bodyguards also found themselves wandering the island.

"So, 'Yami' is it?" Malik asked, walking beside his cousin Atemu through the forest. The royal family was a large one, and Malik's mother had been the younger sister of Atemu's father. "What did you think of all those duelists? See any you like?"

Atemu, or "Yami" as it was now, shrugged. "They are all children. It... would almost seem unfair to combat them."

Bakura shrugged in a dismissive fashion, half his face enshrouded by darkness.

They were interrupted by triumphant laughter.

Following the sounds, they finally reached a clearing where several teens stood surrounding a dueling arena. A green haired duelist with glasses gave his star chips to the winner, then slunk off in defeat.

Bakura snickered, evidently recognizing the loser's face. "I was hoping that little worm would be the first to leave the island. What a pest!"

"I wonder who the winner is...?" Yami wondered. "They must be good if they beat Weevil Underwood."

"Who?"

"One of the international Duel Monsters champions. He's actually a very good duelist." He looked over to the crowd of teenagers, wondering who the winner was. "It would take a player who's either very skilled or very lucky to defeat him."

"You mean aside from you?" Malik grinned. "Well, why don't we go see who the winner was?"

Yami nodded, and the three of them headed over towards the crowd.

"Excuse us," Yami began. The teens all turned to look at the newcomers. "We couldn't help but overhear. Did one of you really beat Weevil Underwood?"

"One of us sure did!" A boy with dirty blonde hair and a loud voice cried out, hugging a much smaller girl and ruffling her spiky hair. "My li'l gal pal Yugi beat that bug-boy single-handedly, like it was nothing!"

"Stop it, Jou!" The girl squealed.

Yami smiled at the girl, finding her to be very cute and pleasing to look at. She was on the petite side, with sparkling violet eyes and black hair that she had dyed, making the bangs appear blonde and causing the tips of her black hair to become magenta; it actually looked similar to Yami's hair. She also wore a unique blend of clothes, pulling a punk goth sort of look, contrasting strongly with her innocent looking face.

"I take it you must be Yugi, then?"

"Uh, yeah," she blushed shyly but held her hand out to shake with him. "I'm Motou Yugi. And you are...?"

"I am called Yami Sennon," Atemu answered as he shook her hand, remembering the name he'd made up for himself. "This is my cousin, Malik, and our friend, Bakura."

He grinned. "They're not as scary as they look."

Yugi smiled and gestured to the crowd around her. "This is Jounouchi, Honda, Anzu, Kaiba, Mokuba, Ryou, Mariku, and Otogi. Um... they're pretty much exactly the way they look."

Everyone smiled and waved as their name was mentioned, except for Kaiba, who looked away with a short grunt, and Mariku, who shrunk away as if to hide.

Yami raised an eyebrow as he looked around at the crowd. "Are all of you duelists?!"

Most of the kids laughed and shook their heads.

"Only Yugi, Jou, Kaiba, and Mariku," the one called Anzu explained. "Honda, Mokuba and I can't duel at all, and Ryou and Otogi are just here for kicks."

Otogi grinned. "I just enjoy watching two losers battle it out; I figure I could defeat everyone on this island with half my deck tied behind my back." He turned to wink at the spiky-haired girl. "Everyone except for Yugi, of course."

"Yeah!" Honda came up on the other side of Yugi, and both he and Otogi lifted her onto their shoulders, ignoring the squeals of protest that escaped her. "No one can defeat out little _Gēmu no Joō!"_

_Gēmu no Joō._ Queen of Games.

Yami raised an eyebrow at the girl's nickname and exchanged a quick look with Bakura and Malik.

Things were about to get very interesting on the island.

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**Welp, that's chapter 1. Let me know what you thought of it, and I may post more!**


	2. Chapter 2

**I am amazed at how well this story went over! Thank you everyone for all the lovely reviews! 3 :-D**

**Anyway, I hope enjoy Chapter 2 as well!**

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Chapter 2:

The three Egyptian men found themselves being invited to join little Yugi's group, which they heartily agreed to. Yami fell into silence as the whole lot of them sat around a campfire that evening; he laid out on the ground and gazed up at the night sky above him.

He could hear everyone else talking by the campfire; Honda reading from some scouting guide, Jounouchi and Kaiba arguing violently, Mokuba prattling on happily about s'mores. It was pleasant to listen to, and it felt good to lay in the grass.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Turning, he found Yugi watching him, fascination held in her amethyst eyes. He couldn't help but think of how pretty she looked with the glow from the fire on her face and the night stars circling around her.

"I've never camped out before," he admitted after a moment. "I'm finding it to be rather an enjoyable time."

"You've never been camping?" She cocked her head at him curiously. "Where do you come from?"

"I was born and raised in a small country called Egypt. You've probably never even heard of it."

He realized that he was mistaken when he saw her eyes brighten. "You're from Egypt?! Of course I've heard of it! I've always wanted to go there!"

She blushed slightly as she tried to calm herself down. "My grandfather used to be an Egyptologist, so our house has always had antique items from the country around. And my mom and my stepdad – that is, Ryou's father – are both archeologists who are currently on some sort of trip in that area. So, yeah, I've heard of it."

Yami chuckled slightly as he pulled himself up so that he was sitting beside her. "You are an excitable little one, aren't you? Especially about my homeland, it would seem."

"I'm not little!" She snapped at him. She changed her tune almost immediately, though. "So, um, what's it like there?"

"It's nice. The scenery is beautiful, and the local architecture is very unique and decadent. You should go someday."

Yugi gazed at him, her eyes appearing to be searching for something. "Is Egypt really ruled by a mysterious young man who's called the _Yuugi-ou?_ The King of Games?"

He tried to hide his smile. "Yes, it is."

She sighed wistfully. "I'd like to go a round with him, just to see if I'm worthy of being called 'the Queen of Games.'"

Yami raised an eyebrow. "It would seem that you are certainly not lacking in self-confidence or courage, little one." He shrugged. "Perhaps, someday, you and the ruler of my country will meet face to face, and the King and Queen of Games will hold their own battle."

"You have a funny way of talking," Yugi remarked, a smile on her lips and a pretty blush on her cheeks. "Kind of... formal and particular, I guess."

He smiled at her. "Is that a bad thing?"

She giggled. "No, I don't think so."

"Hey, Yami!" Bakura called to him, gesturing for him to come join him and Malik a little ways off. "We want a word with you."

Politely excusing himself, Yami stood and walked over to where they were, wondering what was on their minds. "What is it?"

"Tell us, Pharaoh," Bakura began under his breath. He was glaring sideways at Malik, who was leaning against a nearby tree. "Do you intend to stay with this group? These children of Japan have invited us to stay with them at their campsite and search for opponents with them. Are you accepting their invitation?"

Yami considered for a moment. "They seem like honest kids, and some of them have the makings of excellent duelists, I believe. I would personally like to go a few rounds myself with some of them... Yes, I believe I will accept their invitation."

Bakura nodded, a slight smirk tugging on his lips. "As you wish, my King."

"Hey, bronze-backs!" the boy called Jounouchi called out suddenly. "We're gonna make some s'mores to make mini-Kaiba happy, an' then we're gonna tell ghost stories! You in?!"

Despite themselves, the three Egyptians couldn't help but smile just a bit in amusement.

"We'll be right there!" Yami called back, not even trying to hide his smile. He was growing very comfortable with these children, and he felt like he was going to enjoy his time with them just fine.

**tQoG**

Mahna skipped around the castle, laughing and singing with pure delight. She had been practicing her magic tricks for the past several hours and she was very pleased at how good she was getting.

She threw open the door to Atemu's room, running inside with intents to throw herself on her brother, who was probably slacking off on his bed.

"Pharaoh! I need to show you how good I'm getting – HUH?!"

She hovered in the air for a second, her arms and legs flailing wildly, before she finally landed in a face-plant on the perfectly made bed, which clearly no ruler had been laying on in quite some time. Immediately, the young girl popped back up again, staring down at the blankets in confusion. "Brother? Where's Atemu?"

Priest Seth and his wife, Kisara, walked by just then, pausing in the open door. Seth chuckled at his younger cousin. "What's the matter, Mahna? Did you forget that Atemu was going out to mingle among the duelists?"

She stared at him with wide eyes, blinking owlishly.

"Oh, that's right," he shook his head. "You and Mahado were too busy fighting about laundry or something. Underwear, wasn't it? Anyway, Atemu's out now and won't be back in for several days."

Mahna frowned, but nodded. She knew that her brother was the Pharaoh and, technically, he was allowed to do whatever the heck he wanted, but she often wished that he would mention his plans to her beforehand. Of course, the few times that he did, she hardly paid too much attention; apparently she had a habit of discussing underwear with her boyfriend.

But, she was the princess; she could afford to be a bit of an airhead, couldn't she?

She jumped up from the bed and raced past her cousin and his wife, searching for a different cousin altogether. "Oh, Mahado! Want to see me make a fish dance?"

**tQoG**

Mariku gritted her teeth in frustration as she watched those three new boys get invited to join her group's campsite. She didn't trust them. In fact, she wasn't too keen on trusting most people. But, anything she thought clearly didn't matter because there they were, sitting with her friends and roasting marshmallows over the fire.

Yugi was getting entirely too close to that Yami boy, if anyone asked her opinion. And those other two boys gave her chills. She didn't like them, not one little bit.

Turning to glare at the two of them, she caught the one called Malik staring at her. And that awful, eager gleam in his eye...

"Hunger," Mariku whispered to herself, unable to stop the words that filled her mind from pouring into her mouth. "Evil bully want need take force desire molest stalker RAPIST!"

She felt a hand on her shoulder, and she slowly forced herself to clam down as she turned to face Anzu.

"It's alright, Mariku," Anzu said to her in that sisterly voice of hers. "I promise, no one is going to hurt you. There's no need for you to get worked up."

Mariku breathed in and out for a few minutes, trying to calm down. She knew what happened if she got too emotional; if she was scared or hurt, she would focus entirely on her problem and start coming up with long strands of words to fit her feelings. And, if she got too freaked out, she knew she tended to lash out in a violent way.

Anzu, ever the mother-hen or big sister of their group of friends, pulled the younger girl into a hug. "Relax, Mariku. I promised your sister that I'd take care of you, and I'm going to do just that. It's okay."

"What's going on?" Kaiba asked; he'd just finished his argument with Jounouchi and decided to come sit near Anzu. His steely eyes took in the thin form of Mariku, then he looked back at Anzu, not really needing words to express his desire for an explanation.

Anzu said nothing. In truth, she really didn't know quite what was wrong with Mariku, only that the younger girl had seemed to be having what the other kids often referred to as a "freak-out spell."

Mariku shook her head in a violent manner, making her blonde hair whip around through the air. "I don't like those boys! I just don't trust them and I just don't like them!"

Kaiba glanced over towards the boys they'd just met, who were sitting near the campfire with Yugi, Jounouchi, Honda, and Otogi. The Egyptians were trying to contain their laughter as Honda tried to scare Jou with his ghost story, and every once in a while they would give each other serious, meaningful looks or would whisper between themselves.

"They don't exactly seem like the trusting type themselves," Kaiba muttered. He narrowed his eyes, deep in thought. He shook his thoughts from his head as Mokuba raced over, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he curled up in his big brother's lap.

"'M tired, 'nii-sama," Mokuba whispered.

Kaiba said nothing as he began to rub his little brother's back, lulling the younger one to sleep.

Mariku shook her head in that same violent fashion one more time, then wandered off to find her sleeping bag, muttering something about going to bed early.

Anzu looked over to Kaiba, both of them wondering what all was going to happen within the next few weeks that they'd be on this island.

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**Well, thank you for reading! Both reviews and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated! 'Bye!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hey, guys! Thank you for all the lovely reviews! The last three reviews I received were all "please update soon," and I'm really sorry that I didn't get around to this sooner. But, you know how life is, especially at the beginning of the school year. *sigh***

**But, we're here now. Here's the next two chapters for you all to enjoy! I know this one's kind of short, so I'm going to upload two chapters at once. Please read and review as you see fit. I still don't own YGO, yadda yadda yadda.**

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Chapter 3:

Bakura's eyes narrowed as he watched everyone pull out their sleeping bags, preparing for nightfall. It seemed as if everyone wanted to go to sleep, and no one was going to stay up to keep watch.

"Who's on guard duty?" He asked the group of Japanese kids, trying hard not to sound to ticked that these kids were so stupid and hadn't even thought of that.

Jounouchi shrugged. "Eh, who needs a guard? Kaiba doesn't sleep at all, so he'll keep track of what's goin' on."

Kaiba sneered at him. "I will be keeping up with my college classes and using my laptop to run my company, meathead. I'm not going to be watching your pitiful back while you snore into your pillow and dream about girls in their underclothing!"

Jounouchi glared at the brunette and growled, but he didn't form any coherent words aside from 'rich boy.'

Bakura sighed in exasperation with these dumb kids. "Malik and I will keep watch, then. That's our usual job, anyway."

He glanced over at Malik who was groaning. "Problem?"

"I was really hoping that I could just go to bed for once!" Malik whined. Part of his job as bodyguard was to be constantly vigilant and always awake and prepared for action; he'd known that when he'd signed on – or, more accurately, when _his sister _had signed him on – but that didn't mean he had to like it.

His white-haired partner rolled his eyes and stalked off. "Slacker."

Bakura took his job much more seriously than did Malik, that was for sure. He was always on the look-out for potential danger, he always had a plan and a weapon to put into action, and he was never caught off-guard.

Malik knew that he should probably take things more seriously, like Bakura, but he just couldn't bring himself to sacrifice his sense of fun or even his trust in other people.

He sighed though and climbed to his feet. "I'm coming, I'm coming."

**tQoG**

Bakura leaned against a tree, his back facing the camp where the others were all sound asleep. He didn't have to turn around though to notice when someone started tiptoeing towards him.

It was someone significantly smaller than him, judging by the light sound of the footfalls; probably one of the girls. No threat.

He relaxed and turned to face the one who approached, finding himself looking at a young lady with silver hair. He tried to remember which one she was, which was difficult to do since she hadn't hardly said anything to anyone all evening.

She smiled at him shyly.

"You're Ryou, aren't you? One of the non-duelists who's here for unknown reasons?"

She nodded. "Well, actually, I came to this island with my sister, Yugi. But, yeah, I'm Ryou."

Her voice was soft and gentle, and it had a nice accent. British, it sounded. Bakura wondered why a girl with a British voice would have a Japanese name and a Japanese sister, but he didn't ask her. Not now, anyway; it wasn't important.

Bakura glanced around, wondering where Malik was. The lazy #$% was probably back in bed... or stalking someone... or something to that effect. "Any particular reason you're still up?"

"I couldn't sleep," she whispered. "I thought I might take a walk."

"By yourself? At night? In a place you're unfamiliar with?"

She shrugged. "I'll be alright. You and Malik are keeping watch, aren't you? I won't go far, so I should be fine."

"And you're relying on Malik and I to protect you?" Bakura smirked a bit, being careful to stand completely still for a few more seconds. Then, when the time was just right, he turned and lunged at her, pinning the girl to a tree.

She let out a surprised squeak and stared up at him with wide-eyes.

He leaned close to her, allowing a snarl to escape from between his teeth, causing the girl to cringe and shrink away. "Lesson number one, girl: don't trust people if you don't know them."

He released her and backed away. "Lesson number two: show no weaknesses, like cringing and whimpering."

The girl looked up at him, meeting him with straight eye-contact, something he hadn't expected her to do. Her voice was low and almost impossible to hear, but he could make out the words. They were a little shaky, but they were steady enough.

"I am not afraid of you."

Bakura looked at her for a moment, carefully sizing her up, but he said nothing immediately.

"You're not going to hurt me," Ryou whispered. A statement, not a question.

"You're not worth it." He didn't want her to get cocky on him.

She stared at him for a few minutes, looking uncertain. She looked a little scared, and heck who wouldn't have been freaked out when some guy you just met suddenly pounced on you like that?

Bakura sighed. "Look, girlie. I'm not going to hurt you. Not unless you provoke me. Up until that point, you can consider yourself safe. But that doesn't mean you should just trust me blindly."

She nodded and turned away, starting to head back to camp.

"Wait."

Ryou turned back to stare at Bakura in surprise.

He sighed again, feeling particularly stupid. "Look, if you want to go for a walk, then go for a walk. You're probably not going to die... although that is still a possibility... oh, just forget it!"

He began to stalk away, not desiring to finish this pathetic excuse for a conversation, but he stopped when she began to speak again.

"Uuummm..."

"What?"

She looked at him for a moment, no words coming out of her mouth, her fingers drumming against one another nervously. "I'm not going to go very far... I just... I'm sorry."

One of his eyebrows raised. "For what?"

"For being stupid, I guess."

Bakura shook his head. "You're not stupid, girlie. More like... naïve or innocent."

She suddenly smiled and began to giggle. "That sounds like a compliment, coming from your mouth!"

He rolled his eyes in mild exasperation. "You're welcome."

He kept a careful eye and ear on Ryou as she stretched her legs out in the grove, keeping watch over her.

After all, someone had to look out for the silly little angel. Why not him?

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**I hope you enjoyed my little slice of Tendershipping as much as I did! Moving on to chapter 4!**


	4. Chapter 4

**And here's the next chapter!**

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Chapter 4:

Seth took his place at the large banquet table in Pegasus's dining hall, groggily blinking the sleep from his eyes. Kisara, already sitting in the seat next to him, reached over and gently began to rub her husband's shoulder.

"Good morning, my priest," Mahado said respectfully from his seat across the table.

Pegasus, sitting at the head of the table, also gave a quick greeting.

The maids brought breakfast in, placing the trays on the table and promptly dishing the food out onto plates. Seth breathed in deeply, his mouth beginning to water.

"Would you prefer coffee or tea, sir?" One of the maids questioned.

"Tea, please," the priest answered. He'd never touched the beverage called coffee in over five thousand years and he was not going to start drinking it now. He had seen once what happened when Mahna convinced Shimon to try the new beverage known as 'espresso,' and it had not gone as well as one would have hoped.

"Tea for me too, please," Kisara said beside him.

Seth rubbed his eyes tiredly, grumbling about his lack of sleep; he never slept well when his Pharaoh was away. Atemu was his King, his cousin, and his friend, and he always anxious and stayed awake at night worrying when the Ruler of Egypt wasn't around. It made his skin crawl, and it filled his mind with worst case scenario images.

He looked up, after a minute. "Where is Mahna?"

Mahado rolled his eyes as he took a forkful of eggs Benedict. "I don't know. She's impossible to keep up with."

A smile passed over Pegasus's face as he glanced at the magician from behind his curtain of hair. "So, you and little Mahna are betrothed, correct?"

Mahado nodded. "Yes. Her father, our previous and wonderful Pharaoh Akunamekanon, desired for her to marry one of his nephews, of which I am one. I am the one closest in age to her, so I was selected to marry her. However, we cannot be married until the present Pharaoh, my lord Atemu, is also wed."

Pegasus turned to him. "Sometimes, I wonder if you really wish to marry the girl. She seems to drive you batty half the time!"

The royal magician frowned as he stared down at his plate, stabbing at his hash browns but making no move to eat them. "She is... a handful. But, when the Pharaoh speaks, I obey."

"Even after the Pharaoh has already died?"

Before the question could be answered, Mahna raced in, squealing and wrapping her arms around Mahado from behind. "Good morning, Mahado!"

He blushed as she pulled him in for a kiss, smiling happily. After a moment, Mahado gave in and kissed her back, and she began to giggle with pleasure.

The others chuckled slightly at the spectacle.

Seth stopped laughing and turned to stare out an open window. "I wonder where Atemu is right now."

"Relax, Seth," Pegasus told him. He paused for a moment, puzzling over the name 'Sethy-boy' and deciding against it. "He's still somewhere on my island, since my employees haven't escorted him off or noticed him leave, so I can assure you that your king is perfectly safe."

"He is right, my priest," Mahado managed to say before Mahna pulled him in for another kiss. "Mahna, please, I - MMMmmmmMPH!"

"Besides," Kisara said in his ear with her soft voice. "He's got Bakura and Malik with him."

"That's even more reason to worry," Seth replied with a slight shudder. It wasn't that he didn't trust Bakura or Malik, it was just... He couldn't help but remember how much trouble those particular three had always gotten into when they were small children. It seemed that those three were always in over their heads...

Today was going to be a very long day indeed.

**tQoG**

Jounouchi stretched out on the ground, his arms and legs sprawled out in all directions. A sigh of contentment escaped his lips. "Ah, this is da life! Nice scenery, good food, friendly company-"

Kaiba, still standing up, kicked the blonde in the ribs. "Get up, retard! We don't have time for you to take a nap!"

The blonde scowled, gingerly rubbing a hand over his new injury. "Okay, forget the friendly company, 'cause you ain't neither 'friendly' nor 'company,' rich boy! You're a major pain in the a-!"

"Jounouchi!" Honda hollered, whacking his friend on the arm. "There is a child present!"

Mokuba looked up from his plate of toast and peanut butter, wondering what it was that he wasn't supposed to be listening to.

The now doubly injured blonde frowned, but grew quiet.

A bundle of smiles with spiky hair rushed over just then, wrapping her tiny arms around the much larger boy and slightly snuggling against him. "Good morning, Jounouchi-kun!"

The street punk smiled gently, hugging the much smaller girl. He noticed that she seemed a little damp. "'Mornin' to you too, Yug. Where've all o' you girls been off to?"

"Ryou went for a walk last night," Yugi began. "And she found a freshwater pond in a nice secluded area, and Anzu suggested we girls go bathe in it this morning, since we have no idea when the next time we see a real shower might be!"

"Heh, if all o' you girls are as hygienic as my sister, that was prob'ly a good idea on Anzu's part." He glanced over towards Kaiba, wondering if he should say what he was thinking; he didn't wonder for very long. "Hey, Kaiba! Yer such a prissy, girly sort o' guy, why don't you go jump in the lake?"

Kaiba growled, but walked away, choosing not to even dignify Jounouchi with a response.

Yugi looked around curiously. "Where did Yami and his friends go?"

Otogi spoke up from the spot on the ground he was stooping over, carefully putting away the rest of the food they'd brought along. "I dunno. Those three just sorta wandered off. They said they were going to be right back, but that was quite awhile ago."

"Maybe they don't really want to be a part of this little team," Kaiba pointed out. "I've thought of leaving all of you pathetic losers myself a couple of times."

Jounouchi glared at the brunette in disbelief. "We've only been on dis island since yesterday afternoon, ya big jerk! How couldja think o' somethin' like that so #$% frequently?!"

"Just something that comes to mind a lot, I guess. In fact, it comes to mind every time you open your mouth."

Jou scowled, racking his brains to think up a good retort.

Yugi frowned, turning her head this way and that, staring around and secretly hoping to catch sight of Yami; she couldn't help herself... he was so tall and handsome, and he had such a nice sounding voice.

She sighed to herself; she just had to go and develop a crush on a mysterious person she'd just met.

She was distracted though by Jou's sudden outcry. "Ah, who needs 'em, anyways? We always do just fine on our own, don't we? Now come on, Yug! Let's go find someone for me to duel!"

He made a huge point of ignoring the laughing snort that came from Kaiba.

Yugi knew that, very likely, Kaiba was wondering what sort of fourth-rate duelist could actually lose to Jounouchi. Jou wasn't exactly the greatest duelist – in fact, he'd only just learned how to play Duel Monsters last month! He hadn't won any of the games he'd played against Yugi, Ryou, Yugi's grandfather, Mariku, or Kaiba, but that never seemed to slow him down. Jou was always ready to go up against his next opponent, and he never wanted to back down.

A lousy duelist he may have been, but he was still her best friend Jounouchi, and Yugi quickly climbed up from his lap and got to her feet, a spring in her step and determination in her heart. "Alright, Jou! Let's go find you an opponent you can defeat."

Once again, Jounouchi ignored the snorting that came from Kaiba's direction.

**tQoG**

If any of the kids had followed the Egyptians, they would have seen "Yami" sitting on a stump in the middle of the forest, talking on his cell phone, while Bakura and Malik stood on either side of him, their backs turned to him so that they could keep careful surveillance on the surrounding area.

"Really, Seth, I'm fine!" Atemu was saying into the phone. "Everything is perfectly alright!... Yes, I know I've never exactly camped in the woods before... Well, Bakura, Malik and I are staying at a campsite with some very seasoned young children..."

And this would cause a whole new set of explanations and outcries from the young pharaoh. "...They're from Japan... Seth, they're not spies!... Cousin, relax, alright?... Anyway, send a greeting to everyone else for me!..."

Atemu's eyes widened in concern as his attempt to end the phone call and dissuade any more questions failed. "No, Seth, don't go into one of your paranoia attacks! Seth? Seth?!"

There was silence for a moment, during which time Atemu began to bang his head hard against a nearby tree.

Eventually, a new voice called to him through the phone, and he turned his attention back to it. "Oh, hello, Kisara... No, I have no idea why Seth is laying unconscious on the floor. All I know is that he and I were talking and he was getting himself worked up over nothing... Yeah, the usual thing..."

Malik slapped his forehead. Sometimes, the great High Priest was a little over dramatic.

**tQoG**

Yugi and Jou walked around for a bit, Anzu and Honda following along behind them; they knew that whatever opponent Jounouchi ended up facing, he was going to need all the support he could get.

Anzu visibly stiffened, looking as if she had a sixth sense for trouble.

"What's the matter, Anzu?" Yugi asked.

Her older friend shook her head. "Maybe it's nothing. I just heard some people talking just now, and I could have sworn I heard-"

"Well, hello there, kids!" Another female voice interrupted her. This voice sounded like an evil woman trying very hard to pretend to be friendly.

Yugi swallowed as she looked up at the grown woman who stood before her. She couldn't help but remember how she and Jounouchi had met this woman on the boat just two days before, and how blatantly hostile the initial meeting had been. "Hello, Mai..."

"Slut," Anzu whispered under her breath, too low for anyone else to hear.

Mai beamed brightly at the four of them. "You kids looking for someone to duel against?"

"Uh... y-yeah..." Jounouchi stammered, trying very hard to not look at her. He knew that if he took even one look at her body, it would all over for him; his mind would go to the gutter and probably never return.

Mai's smile only widened, her eyebrows coming to knit together cruelly. "Well, Jounouchi-kun, I would be more than happy to duel you, if you think you're up to the challenge!" She reached out and lightly trailed her fingers up the front of his shirt, causing a sudden intake of breath. "Or are you too scared to compete with me?"

"What?! Scared? Me?!" His cool broke, and he found himself staring at the incredibly hot chick standing before him, his determination wavering away to nothing. "Heck no! If it's a duel you want, it's a duel you'll get!"

Honda smacked his forehead, facepalming in frustration. "Dude, you do know she just wanted to get you riled up so she can steal your star chips, right?"

The blonde paused in confusion, his fried brain trying to comprehend what Honda had just told him. "Eh? She what now?"

Honda just sighed and smacked his forehead again.

Within minutes, Jounouchi found himself standing on one side of a dueling arena that just so happened to be nearby, staring at Mai as she took her place on the other side of the arena.

"Just keep that image of your sister in mind," Anzu suggested to him from the ground below.

He swallowed and flashed his friends a nervous thumbs-up sign. With any luck, maybe this duel wouldn't be a complete bust.

* * *

**I write a very strange Mana. Oh well. Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**I've been hitting some writer's block on this thing. I'm actually writing on Chapter 18 and hoping to find my way to an ending sometime soon, but it's taking me awhile to get there.**

**Anyway, though, here's the next chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter 5:

Back at camp, Mariku scowled down at the apple she'd been eating. She had been hungry earlier, but then those accursed Egyptians had returned to the camp, and her appetite had shriveled up on the spot when she set eyes on Malik.

He scared her. Pure and simple.

"Fear," she whispered, singing to herself softly. "Alarm, scared, frightened, afraid, cowardly, scaredy-cat, run, scream, beg, flee..."

She became aware of Ryou moving to sit beside her.

"What's the matter, 'Riku? You look spooked."

Mariku silently laughed to herself. 'Spooked.' There was a word she hadn't thought of. "I just really don't trust those guys."

Ryou smiled to her gently. "Mariku, you don't trust anyone. Especially men."

"I hate men," Mariku muttered. "Men are evil, horrid, vile, twisted, wicked, mean, nasty-"

A soft hand touching hers quieted her. "Not all men are like your father was, Mariku."

She nodded in comprehension; but just because she understood it didn't mean she agreed with it.

Ryou pointed to her friend's pocket, from which a cell phone was sticking out. "Look, why don't you talk to your sister on the phone? That always makes you feel better. I know how much you love talking to Ishizu."

Just the name of the older woman brought a smile to Mariku's face. "Alright. I think I will." She stood to go look for a nearby clearing where she could make a phone call without anyone else overhearing.

"Wait, Mariku!"

She stopped when she saw that Ryou was following her.

"I should go with you. I mean, we're not exactly familiar with this area, so none of us should go off on their own."

Mariku stared dumbly at her friend for a second, wondering if she'd heard right or not, but finally shook her head and shrugged it off. "Alright... well, let's go then."

The two girls scampered off into the woods, one of them being very happy that she was going to get away from those stupid pigs called boys for a moment.

Yami couldn't help but notice that his bodyguards were watching the two girls leave. Malik's overt ogling didn't faze him too much; Malik was always like that. But Bakura on the other hand...

"See anything you like?" Yami couldn't help but ask, a sly smirk on his lips.

Bakura turned and sneered at him. "Don't be ridiculous, you utter imbecile! I'm just glad that the stupid girl actually payed attention to my lesson on personal safety last night."

Malik looked over at his companion with some pride in his voice, hoping that he had somehow been responsible for twisting Bakura's mind. "Did you get lucky?"

All he got in response was a glare. "Do you _feel_ lucky, Malik? Because I can't imagine any other reason why you would even consider insinuating something like that about me, and to my face no less!"

"Let's leave him alone, Malik," Yami suggested, still looking plenty playful. "After all, it's the first time Bakura's ever had a crush on a girl, and we don't want to embarrass him too badly, do we?"

Bakura glared at the two of them, hoping that they would die on the spot if he glared at them too long. They just laughed at his expense and ignored the look on his face.

"Well," he finally huffed. "At least I _know_ the difference between a man and a woman, unlike certain people." He cast his smirk directly at Yami, who stopped laughing and looked confused. "Oh, please. On an average day, I could sit you in front of Mahado and Mahna and ask you to point at the female one, and you would stare at the two of them blankly and turn and stare at me as if I'd asked you to create world peace using a paperclip and a stick of gum!"

"Oh, give him a little credit, Bakura!" Malik piped up, ignoring the increasing frustration on his Pharaoh's face. "He might eventually take a wild guess and point at his sister... you know, after she held up a big sign that said 'female' and yelled at him 'pick me! Pick me! I'm a girl, pick me!'"

Yami was glaring at the two of them by this point, but that didn't faze either of them in the least. Before he could come up with a biting retort, their little 'discussion' was interrupted by Otogi.

The black-haired boy was sitting on the ground near Mokuba, playing a game of CapuMon with the younger boy, but he was currently looking around the clearing with wide eyes. "Hey? Where'd Ryou and Mariku go?"

He looked over at the Egyptians, clearly expecting them to answer.

Malik shrugged. "They went for a walk. Probably not too far."

Otogi frowned, absentmindedly moving one of his monsters of the board. "They shouldn't just go off on their own! It could be dangerous!"

He suddenly cried out in surprise when Mokuba used one of his own monsters to destroy four of Otogi's. Mokuba fell over backward, pointing at the older boy's face and laughing wildly.

"Too bad this isn't a Capsule Monsters tournament..." the teen muttered with a sigh, causing his black bangs to fly up for an instant. "Someone should go and try to find those girls, though!"

Stalking—er, _searching_ for Mariku... with intents of protecting her, of course? Malik took an immediate liking to the idea. "I'll go find her – them."

Bakura smirked at him. "Yeah, right. Sure you will." He glanced over at Yami. "We should go with him, you know."

"Naturally."

This earned them a growl from the spiky-haired blonde. "I can find them by myself."

"Oh, we know. We're just worried about what you'll do with them _after_ you find them!"

Yami chuckled and began to walk back into the woods, heading in the direction he thought the girls had gone in. "Come on. They can't be too far off."

Otogi watched as the three boys disappeared into the trees. He felt better, knowing that someone was going to take care of the two girls; for some reason he felt that he could trust Yami, and he was happy to go along with anything that the boy with the lightning bolt hair came up with.

He looked up Kaiba, who had walked over to stand beside the CapuMon board that Mokuba was resetting.

"What's up, Kaiba?"

The brunette glanced at Otogi, almost as if he didn't think the black-haired boy was worth the time of day. "I'm going to find someone to duel myself. So, you can stay here and watch Mokuba."

"Uh, excuse me? You're just gonna up and wander off and leave me to BABYSIT?! Do I look like some teenage girl who needs a paycheck to you? Is that what I look like?"

Kaiba smirked at him, but didn't answer the question. "Is that your view of childcare, Ryuuji?"

He turned briskly and walked off, leaving no choice in the matter.

Otogi growled in frustration and crossed his arms over his chest. "Babysitting. I invented a game, I run my own company, I'm considered the 'most eligible bachelor' in Domino, and _this_ is what I'm reduced to. _Babysitting!_"

"... Otogi-san?"

He looked up at Mokuba, was sitting across the board from him, pouting at him expectantly. "Don't you want to play another game with me?"

He sighed and offered a small smile to the smaller boy. "Sure, Mokuba-kun. I'll play another game with you. But, after this round, I'm gonna teach you how to play Dungeon Dice Monsters! I might have a fighting chance against you with that!"

* * *

**Read and review, if you feel like it. 'Later.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the wait, guys; my schedule is such a complete and total wreck.**

**But, I think you'll like this next chapter!**

**Pusheen the cat: Don't worry! We'll learn about Mariku's past soon enough, and all it's messy glory!**

**Inori no Uta: Yeah, Bakura's got some sort of feeling going on, alright.**

**Wilbell: Yup, Yami's terrible about determining gender... It's pretty sad.**

**I don't own YGO, yada yada.**

* * *

Chapter 6:

"Alright, onee-san!" Mariku said pleasantly into her phone, sounding happy for first time in days. "I'll see you after the tournament then... Say 'hi' to Odion for me! Bye, sister! Love you!"

Ryou smiled, listening to her friend's conversation. It was nice to hear Mariku sound happy for once; it was always such a rarity with that girl. "So, how is Ishizu-san doing?"

The Kenyan smiled broadly at the other girl, looking very content. "She's doing well, and so is Odion. She was a little tired, since she and Odion just got back from some meeting with some ambassador or other, but she seemed okay."

"I'm glad to hear that. I'll bet you can't wait to get back home, can you?"

Mariku grinned. "You know it." After a few moments, her grin turned into a genuine smile that she flashed at Ryou. "Thanks for suggesting that I call her, Ry. I really needed to do that, but I didn't exactly want to appear weak in front of everyone."

_'Especially that Malik bastard!'_ she thought to herself.

The silver-haired girl smiled gently at her friend, a look of understanding in her eyes. "I'm happy to help! But, I don't think missing your family is exactly what's seen as 'weak, 'Riku."

"It's not just about missing my sister! It's also about being afraid!"

"Afraid of what?" Ryou's voice was level, her words casual. Setting Mariku off was not wise; she had been traumatized when she was younger, and as a result she was considered 'mentally unstable.' No one was afraid _of_ her, as she wasn't exactly insane or psychotic, but her friends and family where all afraid _for_ her, and whether or not something would push her just a little too far.

Mariku sighed. "Everything. An unfamiliar place – unfamiliar people – and so many challenges." She gazed at Ryou and let out a second sigh. "Sometimes, I can't even remember why I decided to join in with this little competition."

Ryou laughed slightly. "I think it had something to do with all that encouragement Yugi and Jou were giving you."

"Encouragement?! They were practically grabbing my by the hand and twisting my arm out of its socket to get me to come along!"

"_And_ both Ishizu and Odion thought it would do you good to get out of the house a little more. Come on, 'Riku. You spend all of your time in your bedroom and you only come out either for school or to visit the game shop. You need to get out every once in while and feel the sun on your face!"

Mariku's eyelids drooped over her lavender irises. "The sun is overrated."

Ryou rolled her eyes indulgently, letting her friend have her own way for once. "Well, come on. We'd better get back to camp before anyone starts missing us."

"Excuse me?"

Stopping in their tracks, the two girls turned back to see a young boy with a long ponytail of pink hair standing nearby. He didn't look any older than Kaiba's little brother, and it made them wonder what he was doing out in the woods.

"Hello," Ryou said pleasantly, bending down a little so that she was eye-level with the boy. "Are you lost or something?"

He shook his head. "Not exactly. My big brother's at our camp not far from here, and I can go back whenever I want. I just wanted to know whether or not either of you were duelists."

He eyed the card decks that the girls had in their pockets with interest. "My name's Leon, and I'm looking for an opponent."

"Mariku's in the competition," Ryou said, nodding her head at the blonde standing beside her. Mariku frowned, saying nothing.

Mariku growled under her breath, muttering softly to himself. "I don't duel boys."

Ryou must have heard her, because she shot a quick glare at the blonde.

"Look, kid, I just don't think you're going to be much of a competition," the Kenyan explained, trying to make an excuse to the pink-haired lad. "I mean, y'know..."

Leon cocked an eyebrow at her in irritation. "I know, I'm just a little kid. But I can tell you that I'm just as good an opponent as any! In fact, I can take down any duelist I compete with, even girls who bleach their hair and wear pants a size too small."

Now this kid was starting to annoy her. Mariku openly sneered at him, fingers inching towards her deck. "If it's a duel you want, then it's a duel you've got! Get ready to lose your star chips!"

**tQoG**

Pausing in the middle of his stride, Malik leaned back against a tree, feeling distinctly lazy. "I'm tired of walking! Can we just sit down?"

Yami and Bakura turned back to give him a sidelong look.

"We've only been walking for ten minutes," Yami told him, looking at the time on his cell-phone.

"But it seems like _forever_!"

"Oh, stop whining, you big baby!" the white-haired bodyguard to his right growled. "Man up for once in your life, would you? It would make my life a #$% of a lot easier!"

Malik exhaled slowly, making his breath into a sigh. "And besides, we agreed to stay with this group of Japanese kids, and yet we never actually stay with the group. Why is that? I find it rather enjoyable to hang around with that lot."

Bakura snorted at him. "You just like being able to eye-up that Mariku girl!"

He sneered right back at his partner. "Yeah, what of it?"

This earned him a terrible look of disgust.

Yami sighed. "I don't know why we can't just stay with the group. Ask Bakura; it's his idea."

Malik swiveled his head back to stare at Bakura, who glared at both of them in frustration.

"Don't you two understand that you can't just trust anyone? If it were my decision, we never would have joined up with those stupid kids, much less have stayed with them for so long!"

"Well," Yami replied with a frown. "I rather like them, and I want to spend more time with them and see how good they are at dueling. So tell me, Bakura, which one of us is the Pharaoh and which one is the servant?!"

Bakura turned away in irritation, not even deigning to answer the question.

Yami pointedly turned away and began to walk again, walking away from his two bodyguards with a swift pace. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go look for either Mariku and Ryou or those other four. You are welcome to come with me, or you can just stay here. I really don't care."

Bakura growled as Malik stood and began to follow their king through the woods, finally moving to follow after them. "Why am I the only one with a brain around here?"

Right now, he was wishing he'd stayed back home in Egypt. Then he wouldn't have to deal with being trapped on an island surrounded by idiots!

The three Egyptians continued their little forest stroll in near silence, not speaking to each other in an awkward sort of way. They weren't walking for very long when they heard some familiar voices nearby.

"Hear that?" Yami asked, his head cocked to the side.

Bakura answered the unspoken question without skipping a beat. "It's that bigmouth Jounouchi kid. He's dueling someone who I don't know. Yugi, Anzu, and Honda are all cheering him on. I've only been listening to them for the past minute and a half."

Yami and Malik turned and stared at him, eyes and mouths agape.

He smirked at them both. "It's called training your senses. You should try it sometime."

"Whatever!" The Pharaoh shook his head in slight annoyance. "Let's just follow their voices. At least we'll get to see some actual dueling for once."

Following the sound, the three Egyptians were soon poking their heads through a crop of bushes, sitting on top of a hill that overlooked a clearing. Down below, they could see Jounouchi standing on one side of a dueling arena, a blonde woman they didn't recognize standing across from him.

Malik latched his eyes unto the woman as she laughed evilly, his tongue slipping out of his mouth in a hungry sort of fashion.

"See anything you like?" Bakura asked dryly, a slight sneer on his lips. He really hated it when Malik started perving out like that; it gave him the creeps.

The demented pervert that was Malik turned to look at Yami and Bakura, tongue still hanging out of his mouth. "When they're done, do you think maybe I could –"

"NO!"

Malik pulled his tongue back into his mouth and sighed. "Alright, alright. I'll behave, I guess." He smirked. "I like Mariku better, anyway. She's not as loud and obnoxious as that dame down there."

All he got in response was an eye roll from Yami, who then quickly turned back to see how the duelists were doing against one another.

Things were beginning to heat up in the arena, that was for sure.

"Go, Time Roulette!" Jounouchi called out. He crossed all of his fingers as he watched the spinner on the Time Wizard's clock go round and round, hoping it would land on a good space.

Mai chuckled to herself. 'A two-in-six chance? That might as well be _no_ chance!'

Imagine her surprise when the spinner landed on just the right slot.

Jounouchi began to whoop and jump up and down excitedly as the playing field was effected by time. "Yeah, baby! Come t' Papa! Take that, Mai! Time Wizard turns Baby Dragon into a thousand year old dragon! Baby Dragon is now Thousand Dragon! And with age comes experience in battle!"

"So what?" his opponent huffed. "That doesn't mean that your dragon even has a chance of taking out – my Harpy Ladies?! What happened to them?!"

"What's that dumb broad squealing about?" Malik asked. He was immediately elbowed by Yami, who then directed his gaze away from Mai's cleavage and towards the dueling field. He saw that the Harpies were all just sort of sitting on the ground, looking very much like old ladies and apparently too elderly to combat gravity, much less anything else. "Oh."

Jou's new Thousand Dragon destroyed all of Mai's Harpies within seconds, and her life points shot down to zero.

The scruffy boy grinned hugely as Mai removed one of her many star chips, handing it over with a small pout.

"Wait, Jounouchi," Mai called as he began to turn away.

"Eh?"

"How... how exactly _did_ you manage to beat me? I mean, my parlor tricks aside, how did an amateur duelist like you actually manage to defeat me?"

Jou flashed her a small smile. "'Cause unlike you, I'm duelin' with a purpose. I'm not just here to show up every Joe that passes by – so to speak – I've got someone back home who relies on me to win this tournament. An' I don't plan on lettin' her down!"

So saying, he raised his fist in the air victoriously and raced over to Yugi, Anzu, and Honda, who were jumping up and down and cheering for him.

Mai shrugged, completely bewildered, and walked off, eager to find an opponent to crush.

Yami jerked his head in the direction of the four kids, indicating that he thought that he, Bakura, and Malik should go meet up with them. The other two nodded, and the three of them stood up to go join the group of cheering kids.

Jounouchi and Honda were doing a cancan dance together, singing loudly at the top of their lungs. _"Kankan, ketabasu sukoshi kankan...!"_

As they approached, the three Egyptians stared at the two dancing Japanese, then turned to stare at the girls.

Anzu shrugged and rolled her eyes. "All I know, is that this is why I have female friends."

Yugi giggled.

"It's our victory dance!" Honda cried out by way of explanation.

Jou nodded energetically. "Yeah! Every time we kick some can-"

"-we do a victory dance!"

The two best of friends grinned at one another, then began their cancan again. _"Kankan, ketabasu sukoshi kankan...!"_

Halting her amused giggling for an instant, Yugi raced over and gave Yami a quick hug. "Hi, Yami-kun! I didn't get to say 'good morning' to you earlier!"

Yami was frozen for a moment, shocked that he had been hugged by someone that was not his younger sister. He smiled at his new friend after a second though, reaching out and gently setting his hand on her delicate shoulder.

"I'm sorry, little one," he apologized, his smile widening when she beamed back up at him. "I had to make a quick phone call to my cousin, because I knew he would be worried to death about me. Otherwise, I would have given you a morning greeting myself."

For some reason, he felt better when he was around little Yugi; her pretty voice and her cute smile did wonders for his normally stand-off-ish behavior.

Bakura shifted on the heels on his feet, clearly becoming bored rather quickly. "C'mon, then," he growled. "Are we going to stand around here all day or are we going to try to find the others?"

"Is Fluffy worried about the cute little angel with the silver hair?" Malik asked under his breath, his voice mocking. "You did seem to be enjoying her company very much last night when you were pinning her to that tree-"

"It wasn't what it looked like, you #$%-ing pervert!" Bakura turned away, walking back towards the camp, not caring whether or not the others followed him. "... and don't call me 'Fluffy'..."

Yami sighed, not wanting Bakura to just walk off, and, holding a finger up to Yugi and promising to be right back, moved to follow the white-haired body guard, Malik not too far behind.

"Bakura, stop!" Yami called. At first, the other didn't respond, but he finally halted and stood still for a moment, just long enough for the other two to catch up with him.

Yami opened his mouth to speak, but Bakura cut him off immediately.

"You're getting mighty close to that girl, you know. Are you looking for a rival or a potential wife?"

"Excuse me?" He wasn't following.

Malik chuckled. "You're completely smitten with that little Yugi girl!" He punched Bakura in the shoulder, making his friend wince. "Call _me_ a child molester?! I'm not the one eying up a fourteen-year-old kid!"

Bakura sneered at him as he clutched his shoulder in pain. "No. You're just the one staring at a sixteen-year-old girl, obviously envisioning her naked. Like no one notices that look on your face."

Malik frowned and looked away, saying nothing. He _had_ been blatantly staring at Mariku – had barely taken his eyes off of her since he'd first seen her.

Yami shook his head. "Sometimes, I honestly don't know what the two of you are talking about."

The white-haired Egyptian looked up from his shoulder, his steel eyes considering his King for a moment. "No. You don't, do you? For the past five centuries, you've barely been able to discern a girl from a boy and you've treated everyone as the same. But now, you've met a little child from Japan and you can't seem to take your eyes off of her."

Yami turned away. "I have no such ideas in my head as you two would profess that I have. I find the girl's company to be pleasant, unlike that of you!"

He turned and strode away quickly, heading back towards Yugi, honestly not yet realizing what the other two had already realized.

Bakura rolled his eyes and sighed. "Idiot pharaoh... he's too stupid to even notice that he's fallen for the girl..."

Malik smirked at him evilly. "Just like how you don't know that you've fallen for that Ryou girl?"

All he received in answer was a growl.

* * *

**Hope everyone enjoyed it! 'Later!**

**(Bonus points to anyone who can identify the song Jou and Honda are singing.)**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, everyone! Thank you all for the lovely reviews!**

**Mirai Panda: yes, these silly Egyptians are pretty stubborn, aren't they? We'll see how long it takes for them to bend.**

**Eschatology: Thank you for the well wishes, and the song that Jou and Honda sing is my (rough and probably terrible) Japanese translation of the 'Kick the Can' song that Joey and Tristan sing on the Capsule Monsters series.**

**Sweetie Cutie Pie: oh, don't worry, Mai will be coming back before too terribly long. I promise polarshipping, and I fully intend to deliver.**

**Wilbell: I'm glad you liked my inclusion of the nickname "fluffy" for Bakura. It does rather suit our wild-haired thief, doesn't it?**

**Inori no Uta, Pusheen the cat, v flower, Fluffy Plushie, and everyone else reading: I'm glad you're all enjoying the story as much as you are! I think everyone's going to like this next chapter, so let's get on with it.**

* * *

Chapter 7:

"Bye-bye, Cinderella!" Mariku said as the Winged Dragon of Ra beat down upon the unfortunate princess. "I guess you're not going to the ball after all!"

Leon watched with some dismay as his beloved fairy tale heroine was devoured by the Egyptian God, but he smiled afterwards and willingly gave one of his star chips over the the Kenyan girl, even going as far as shaking her hand.

"That was a great duel, Mariku!" he gushed happily. "But, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find my big brother now! See ya around!"

With that he skipped off into the forest, happy as a clam.

Mariku and Ryou watched him go, Mariku seeming a little confused. "Do you think he wears enough pink?"

Ryou giggled. "Let's not make fun of him, 'Riku. He seems like a sweet enough boy."

Mariku nodded. "Alright, little boys are okay. But I still don't trust any male over the age of ten!"

"I think he was eleven..."

"You know what I mean!"

The silver-haired girl shook her head in slight amusement. "Whatever. Well, let's be getting back to camp."

"Yeah, okay. I guess we'd better, or else Anzu will get sick with worry."

* * *

Yugi scampered happily beside Yami, feeling safe when she was by his side, the same way she felt when walking with Jounouchi.

"What's wrong with Bakura-kun?" she asked quietly, watching the white-haired man worriedly. The others had seen Malik whisper something to Bakura out of the corners of their eyes, but they hadn't actually heard anything other than Bakura's outburst immediately afterwards.

Yami shrugged almost dismissively. "With Bakura, it's hard to say what's bothering him for certain, little one. All I know is that here lately he's been angry with everything and everyone around him in general, but I don't know why."

He sighed. "Hopefully, it blows over soon. I remember when I first met him he was so mad at the world; it was three years before he began to trust me."

"Three years?" Yugi blinked in amazement, realizing just how deeply complex Yami's friends seemed to be.

Yami grinned at her. "And if you think that sounds like a long time, you should hear how long it took for us to convince him not to kill Malik on sight!"

She giggled just a bit, which made him smile even more.

"Where have you losers been?" An irritated-sounding voice interrupted them.

Realizing that they had just made it back to camp, Yugi looked up to see Kaiba glaring at them.

"Do you morons have any idea how long I have been sitting here being forced to listen to Otogi's incessant whining?"

Otogi sneered at him and looked away. "You're just jealous because Mokuba wanted to play with _me_ this morning and not _you_!"

Before the usual battle between the kids could escalate any higher, two mysterious figures stepped out from behind a couple of trees, startling the group. The first one was tall and blonde, and the other was short and almost zombie-ish in appearance.

"Boo!" They both smirked evilly.

The group of friends each about jumped out of their skin.

"Who are you?" Yugi asked, trying to hide the squeal that was sneaking into her voice.

The tall blonde smirked evilly. "Name's Bandit Keith, an' my partner here is Bonz. Bonz here is lookin' for someone to duel against. Right, Bonz?"

The creepy midget chuckled. "Right, boss!"

Anzu openly snarled at them, not liking either one a bit. "Yeah? And which one of us did you have a mind to duel? Yugi? Yami? Jounouchi? Kaiba? Malik? Bakura?"

Bonz ignored her as his eyes ran over the group, clearly searching for the duelist that looked easiest to him. His gaze wavered on Anzu herself for an instant, then Mokuba. "I think I'll challenge..."

Just then, Ryou and Mariku returned. "We're back, everyone!"

Bonz's eyes lit up when he spotted Ryou. He raised his index finger and pointed at her. "Her! I choose her! I challenge you to a duel!"

Ryou blinked in confusion, her usual happy smile fading from her face. "But... I'm not a duelist."

Bandit Keith looked her up and down, approving very much of his partner's choice; she'd go down in a snap! "If you're not a duelist, why do you have a deck of cards sticking out of your pocket?"

Ryou looked down at the cards protruding from the pocket on the back of her jeans, blushing and stammering. "But... I'm not here to compete! My cards aren't for competitions! They're just for playing for fun with! I don't want to-"

"Too bad, too sad!" Bonz cut in. "I challenge you! Now duel me!"

"But, I don't even have any star chips!"

"She's got a point," Keith admitted. He turned to Yugi and Yami, who each had the most star chips of the lot, having already dueled a number of people. "The girl duels Bonz. She loses, one of you has to give one of your star chips to Bonz. She wins, Bonz will give one of you a star chip."

Yugi's mouth dropped. "But that's not fair!"

Bonz smirked. "Either that or... she can go on a date with me!"

This caused Ryou to cry out and dive further behind the others, trying to hide. To her own surprise, she was immediately offered a shield and a hiding place by one who seemed unlikely to help her.

"Just a moment!"

Everyone turned to look at the one who'd interrupted the discussion, seeing Bakura standing in front of Ryou, a very irritated look on his face.

He sneered at Keith and Bonz, as if daring them to mess with him. "You want to duel the girl so bad? Let's make a deal: she and I will duel as a team against the two of you."

"A tag team duel?" Bonz asked. He exchanged a look with Bandit Keith, then they both looked back at the Egyptian. "Go on."

Bakura held up his glove, showing off his star chips. "If we win, you each will give me a star chip. If we lose, I will give you each one."

Keith grinned. "Acceptable." He and Bonz turned to walk away, gesturing for their opponents to follow them to a specific dueling field.

Ryou stared at the scar-faced Egyptian, her face a mixture of expressions. "Bakura..."

"Shut up," he answered. He grabbed her hand and dragged her along with him, following behind Keith and Bonz.

The rest of the group started to follow behind them, but they were cut off by two more kooks.

"I'm Sid," the first one said. "This is Zygor. An' the boss don' wan' no one messin' wit' his duel."

Honda scowled at the pair, beyond angry. "Hey, pal. Those are our friends, and if we want to watch them duel, we're going to watch them duel!"

He fell into a fighting position, Otogi and Jounouchi right beside him. Kaiba prepared himself to glare the two offenders into submission, the way he did with his opponents in the business world.

Malik suddenly broke into a half-crazed grin. Finally! Some real action!

* * *

The two chosen opponents followed the two challengers into a creepy cave, going into the deep, dark bowels of the earth beneath Pegasus's castle. They passed by many skeletons that hung from the ceiling, which at first made Ryou tense up.

Bakura felt a brief moment of pity for her and tightened his grip on her hand. He wasn't exactly an expert on the whole 'comforting' thing, but he felt inclined to try. "It can't hurt you if it's already dead, you know."

"Chickens!" Bonz called from somewhere up ahead. "They're just plastic Halloween decorations!"

Ryou visibly blushed and fixed her eyes on the ground. Bakura felt stupid too, so he said nothing.

Soon they arrived at a dueling arena that had been hidden deep in the very back of the cave, and Ryou couldn't help but ask why there was an arena inside a cave with 'Halloween decorations.'

"Because," Bonz explained. "This is the zombie arena. It's designed so that any ghost or zombie type monsters gets a power boost." He grinned. "My entire deck is made up of zombie and ghost monsters and their special traps and magic cards, so your boyfriend there had better be ready to give up two of his star chips!"

If Bakura didn't know any better, he would have thought that Ryou was trying to hide a slightly wicked looking smile.

Bandit Keith and Bonz took their places on the red side of the arena, leaving the blue side to the others. Bakura settled in beside Ryou; he was ready to take care of most if not all of the dueling, but Ryou pulled out her own cards and began shuffling, seeming overly eager to get the match started.

When she finished, she looked up at Bakura expectantly, and he nodded to her, signaling that he was just as ready as she seemed to be.

She grinned across the arena at Bonz and Keith. "Let's duel."


	8. Chapter 8

**I am currently work free! Awesomeness!**

**Decided to go ahead and update now before I got busy again.**

**Ugh, I love Bakura and Ryou way too much and I focus on them a great deal, but I promise that the other couple will slowly begin to blossom as well. I keep trying to hold them back and keep their progression somewhat realistic, but there's not much in the story to distract from it and I just really want to get to the kissing scenes and whatnot as soon as possible.**

**I still don't own Yugioh!, and that's honestly probably a good thing.**

* * *

Chapter 8:

"Get out of our way, dweebs," Kaiba said, his voice all too calm, Mokuba standing at his side with his hands curled into small fists.

"Yeah!" Jonouchi and Honda each piped up in agreement. "You heard the man!"

Sid and Zygor only laughed.

"Hey, the boss told us to keep you pipsqueaks from interfering!" Zygor began.

Sid cackled beside him, looking down his nose and through his glasses at the group of teenagers before them. "An' believe me, kids! We're a coupla blighters you don't want to mess with!"

"Wanna bet?" Anzu asked, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring at the two men. Otogi stood beside her, his hands in his pockets.

Unknown to Yami and Malik, the children they'd teamed up with were no strangers to bullies, or to a street brawl. Yugi and her friends were all the social outcasts of their hometown (aside from Otogi), for one reason or another. Yugi for being more interested in games than anything else; Anzu for being on the bad side of the popular girls; Jonouchi and Honda for breaking rules and even the law and being poor; Kaiba for being an antisocial genius, although his multimillion dollar company more than made up for that; Mariku for her own personal problems; Ryou for being fascinated by the occult and being so reclusive. And then there was Otogi, who simply hung out with the group of his own accord, despite being well-liked among the 'in-crowd.' He, like Anzu, stated that he wanted to spend time with real friends, not fair-weather phonies.

Each one had had their fair share of dealings with bullies, some briefly and some deeply. At any rate, they all looked quite prepared to take down the two adult men who stood in front of them.

Zygor charged first, intending to trample Jou and Honda, since they seemed to be the toughest of the kids. He swung his fist at Jou's head, surprised when the blonde ducked; Jou crouched, the rogue fist flying just over his head, and kicked one of his legs out, the bottom of his shoe colliding with the man's gut. Honda laughed at the sharp gasp that erupted from Zygor's mouth, his own fist flying out and striking the side of the man's face.

Zygor landed on the ground, pain coming from two points of his body, while the kids all laughed at him.

"Yeah, how ya like them apples, bozo?" Jonouchi asked, walking over and placing his foot on the man's back. Zygor only growled.

Sid began to charge at a cautious rate, seeming that he wanted to help his associate but uncertain how. He took a few faltering steps, but suddenly cried out as something hard hit the side of his head.

He caught the small object in his hand as it fell, staring down at it dumbly before slowly gazing up towards where it had come from. "... Dice?"

"Yeah. Dice. Kinda my thing," Otogi explained, his hand flying out of his pocket and sending several dies at the orange-haired man.

Sid's eyes widened, his glasses sliding down his nose in fear. Shrieking like a frightened infant, he turned and ran, yelping every time a dice hit him. He tripped over a piece of string as he passed through a pair of trees, the twine becoming too twisted around his legs for him to escape from.

Anzu peered out from behind one of the trees, Mariku and Yugi from the other, all three girls smirking at the man. "Had enough?"

Sid made a soft whimpering sounds in the back of his throat, scrambling to his feet and hopping away, unable to walk or run properly.

Zygor glared after his associate from the ground. "Coward!"

"Yeah, yeah, an' so's yer old man!" Jou remarked, removing his foot from the man's back and allowing Honda to drag the man up by the back of his shirt. One swift kick in between his legs, and Zygor was reduced to something no better than Sid, and he too was sent stumbling away as quickly as he could.

"And don't come back!" Anzu called after them, a triumphant smile on her face.

Yami and Malik both stared, their jaws dropped. Neither one was sure what they'd expected, but that short and efficient battle was certainly not it.

While Jou yelled at Kaiba for not actually doing anything, it occurred to Yami and Malik both that these kids were not the basic teenagers they had appeared to be.

* * *

The fight with Sid and Zygor didn't last too terribly long, and soon Yugi was scampering through the underground caverns, eager to find where Ryou had been taken off to. Yami was right at her heels and everyone else followed along behind.

"I hope Ry's alright!" she worried when they came to a junction and couldn't tell which way to go.

Yami put a hand on her shoulder. "Remember, little one. Bakura is with her. Believe me, no one would dare harm Ryou with him around."

Yugi bit her lip.

Everyone straightened when they heard a high-pitched scream carry through one of the tunnels.

"This way!" Yugi cried, following the sound as it echoed along the underground walls. The rest of the group all took off after her.

Eventually, they came to a large cavern in the very back of the cave, where there was a dueling arena set up. Bandit Keith and Bonz stood on one side, while Ryou and Bakura stood on the other.

Or, more accurately, Bandit Keith and Bonz were cowering and whimpering behind one side of the table, while, on the other side, Ryou beamed proudly at her monsters while Bakura was doubled over in laughter.

Ryou addressed her prized monster, who stood upon the field. "Dark Necrofear! Attack!"

With that, the final monster of Keith and Bonz was destroyed, torn to shreds by the female monster that belonged to the cute little girl that looked so easy, and their life points dropped down to zero.

Dark Necrofear went back to the hand of her angelic mistress and Diabound went back to the hand of his own master, who was still laughing hysterically.

Kaiba looked over towards Keith and Bonz in their hiding place. "I wonder which one of those meatheads let loose the girly scream, because I don't think it was Ryou."

After a few more chuckles, Bakura managed to stand up straight and walk around to the other side of the table, trying to look as threatening as he could while laughing. "Alright, you fools! We had a deal, so it's time to pay up!"

"Alright, alright!" Bandit Keith wailed pathetically. "Just keep that freaky girl away from us!"

They both squealed when Ryou walked around to their side of the table to stand behind Bakura. The two ninnies quickly deposited their star chips on the floor and fled the scene, apparently wanting to put as much distance between themselves and the girl with the pretty silver hair as possible.

Ryou leaned down to collect the abandoned star chips, handing them over to Bakura with a smile on her face, the impish smirk not quite fitting on her angelic face. "Your star chips."

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "They're more yours than mine – I didn't do much dueling, after all. You're the one who defeated them."

Ryou blushed lightly as the Egyptian wrapped his arm around her shoulders and held her close, leading her over to where the others were waiting for them, never once cracking a smile.

Malik smirked at him. "Does Fluffy have a new pet?"

"You can shut your trap, _Melvin_," Bakura growled at him. At the sound of the dreaded name, his demented partner backed off.

Mariku burst out in giggles, not wanting to have any form of communication or association with Malik but being unable to help herself this time. "_Melvin_?!"

Yami was overcome with laughter, remembering where the name had come from. "It was a disguise that they used once. Malik adopted the name _Melvin_, at some prodding from his sister who thought it was an _adorably modern_ name, while Bakura was dubbed _Florence_ as a joke by my own little sister!"

Mariku laughed even harder, and soon everyone else was doing the same. Except for Ryou, who bit her lower lip and tried to keep a straight face while Bakura growled lowly under his breath.

"Don't even think about laughing, girlie," he growled to her. She pressed her lips together tightly into a thin line, looking up at him with her brown eyes.

Bakura stared into those pools of brown, becoming lost in them as they sparkled with all their innocence. He shook his head and let his arm drop from around her shoulders to around her waist, drawing her even closer. He smirked a bit when a squeak erupted from her pretty little lips.

It was nice to get a rise out of somebody.

* * *

Bakura was standing guard later that night, feeling that it was his natural place to be. He had had to listen to Malik's incessant whining about having to get off his butt and do some work, but Bakura knew that his whining companion was around somewhere, doing his job.

Kaiba was sitting up with his laptop, fingers flying over the keyboard, his pale face wrapped in a blue glow. He sat beside his sleeping bag (it seemed odd that the young CEO owned a sleeping bag, since he apparently didn't ever sleep), and the bag was inhabited by the small form of Mokuba, who was dozing peacefully, his hands fisted into his brother's coat.

Kaiba looked up when Bakura passed by, meeting the Egyptian's gaze for an instant, nodding, and then turning back to his glowing screen dismissively. He had acknowledged the sentry and proven that he had no reason for any alarm.

It almost made Bakura smile, so glad was he that someone in this dueling party had some sense in their head.

The white-haired Egyptian walked out of the camp, wanting to put some space between himself and any of the other people. He had checked to be certain that his Pharaoh was safe, so now it was time for him to get a little solitude.

He wasn't alone for too terribly long, though, as he heard footsteps approaching from behind.

His ear perked up, recognizing the sound that these particular footfalls made. He associated the sound with large brown eyes, brimming with innocence and sparkling with happiness.

A voice penetrated the dark, a shy whisper that sounded like a breeze on a spring day. "Um, Bakura-san?"

A zephyr, yes, that's what her voice sounded like; the soft, gentle breeze of spring that carried happiness and life with it. He came to this conclusion as he turned to growl at her over his shoulder. "What do you want?"

Ryou smiled at him in her own shy way as she stepped closer to him. "I just wanted to say... _arigato_, Bakura-san."

"For what?"

Ryou fiddled awkwardly with her fingers, looking at the ground nervously. "For... for helping me. For trying to defend me. For being nice to me."

Bakura scowled and reached for her, taking her chin in his hand and tipping her head back, forcing her to look at him again. "Here's another lesson for you: always maintain eye contact. Looking away makes you look weak and pathetic."

Surprising him, she suddenly jerked her head away from him, slapping his hand harshly. "Why do you do that? I'm just trying to be nice to you, because no one else will be, but all you do is give me these stupid 'lessons!' No wonder everyone else avoids you, because clearly no one is good enough to bother with by your standards!"

There were tears in her eyes, and she wasn't trying to control them or stop them. Her voice was wavering and her lips were trembling. Her hands were balled into fists, shaking at her sides. "I hate you... and I hate your stupid 'lessons!'"

She was allowing her emotions to control her. Pathetic, weak, stupid, useless...

Bakura sighed and reached for her again, wrapping his arms around both her shoulders and her waist. The hug was stiff and awkward; he couldn't even remember the last time he'd hugged someone.

"I'm... sorry," he grunted. He narrowed his eyes at her, scowling slightly. "But those 'stupid lessons' that I'm trying to drill into your head may just save your life one day."

Ryou gaped up at him, dragging her hands across her eyes and wiping her tears away. Understanding came to her – this was Bakura's way of expressing that he didn't want her to be harmed. He was telling her how to take care of herself so that she wouldn't ever be hurt.

He cared about her.

She looked up at him seriously for a moment. "Why did you help me?"

He gave her a shrug for an answer. "I didn't like the way they were looking at you: like they were hungry dogs eying over a piece of fresh meat. It's... a look I've seen before, and I know first-hand what sort of damage someone like that could inflict on another.

"You're so... young and innocent. I didn't think you needed any of that emotional scarring." He chuckled suddenly, absentmindedly brushing a stray lock of silver hair out of her face. "But I didn't know you could duel that well. A nice, hidden characteristic, that one."

She continued to look at him for a moment longer, then gave him that shy smile again. "Would you... like to take a walk with me?"

Bakura stared at the girl, wondering if he'd heard right. He glanced around, finally catching sight of Malik; he was leaning against a tree quite a ways off, standing not far from that Mariku girl he liked so much.

He turned back to Ryou, his mouth, for once, moving without his intending it to. "Alright, but let's not go too far."

She nodded eagerly, smiling pleasantly as she turned to skip off into the forest.

Bakura growled and shook his head, but he followed her nonetheless. He soon caught up with her and promptly threw an arm around her shoulders.

She squeaked and gaped at him for a minute, then curled happily into his side, causing his arm to drop down to her waist.

"This is nice," she murmured softly.

Bakura looked at her, silenced by the view of the moonlight on her face. He finally found his tongue again, muttering, "Just shut up and walk, girlie."

* * *

Malik watched as Bakura walked off with that silver-haired girl. A grin grew across his face; now that Bakura was gone, he didn't have to pretend to work anymore, and he could focus entirely on pleasure.

That was the motto of Malik Ishtar: "Pleasure first, business later... if ever, that is!"

Malik knelt down on the ground next to the sleeping bag that Mariku was sacked out in.

_"Mariku_," he whispered, tasting the name on his tongue. It was a good name. And this girl had a nice face. And a nice... _everything else._

Hesitantly, the Egyptian reached out a hand, laying it gently on the girl's back, pressing lightly. Mariku murmured in her sleep and began trembling a little, but she remained in her blissful state of unconsciousness.

He began to move his thumb in a circular motion, rubbing the girl's shoulder blade. He liked the quiet little moaning sound that grew in her throat; it was like listening to a kitten purring. He wondered what other noises she would make for him...

Reluctantly, Malik removed his hand from the girl and moved away from her, knowing that he shouldn't be tempted with such things. Besides, he couldn't possibly get away with something like that when there was so many other people around.

"But I'll tell you this, little kitten," he whispered to the sleeping form. "I'm going to get you alone, sooner or later, and then I'm going to claim you for myself."

* * *

**Sorry for the long chapter, but I'm really happy with how it turned out, all in all. I wasn't too sure about the fight with Sid and Zygor, but I guess it turned out alright.**

**I'm having trouble deciding about the next couple of chapters, because they're going to include some heavier topics. I might include those pieces directly into this story, or I may publish them on their own. We'll see.**

**But, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! 'Later!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hi! Been awhile, I know, but here we are. The next two chapters are going to focus a bit more on Mariku and Malik, and then we'll get some Yugi/Yami and other characters. For now, though - MARIK!**

**Also, there is a 'Bonus Part' for this story on my profile for anyone who wants to check it out and hasn't already.**

**Still don't Yu-Gi-Oh!, and if I did the Arc-V series wouldn't include one of the Hungry Hungry Hippos as a monster.**

**Onward.**

* * *

Chapter 9:

'WHAM!' went Mariku's head against the rough bark of the foliage.

The girl from Kenya growled as she rolled over, finding herself facing a tree, her head throbbing with pain from where she'd hit it.

Slowly, the bronze-skinned girl sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She hadn't slept well, and had spent the entire night tossing and turning, being plagued by bad dreams.

Well, except for one dream. At one point, she had dreamt that she was being petted by someone. Someone who was sweet, but delusional; they kept calling her a cat.

But, then that dream ended and made way for the nightmares again. It just wasn't fair; why couldn't she have good dreams like everyone else?

Sighing, Mariku sunk down into a spot near the campfire, accepting a plate of food without even looking to see who it was.

"Bad dreams?"

She stared up in shock as Malik lowered himself to sit beside her, his arm draping casually around her shoulders. She stiffened immediately, fully prepared to drop her food and run.

"Hey, easy now," Malik said to her, his voice unnaturally soothing. He began to rub his thumb over her shoulder-blade, probably not even knowing that it was one of her sweet spots. "Why can't I just talk with you for a minute?"

"Because you're a stalker... creeper... psycho, pervert, demented sexualoffenderlunatic-"

"Do you always prattle off long lists of words?" He had cocked an eyebrow into a peculiar angle and was staring at her strangely. "And you left out 'bastard.'"

"I was getting to that!" Mariku turned away from him, pouting. After a minute or two of feeling him rub circles over her shoulder-blade, she realized that she was starting to relax. "And how did you know that I had bad dreams anyway?"

Even though she wasn't looking at him, she could tell he was smirking. "You talk in your sleep. And it's very interesting to listen to."

She turned and glared at him, noticing for the first time that no one else was around. "Where are the others?"

Malik's face took on a serious aspect, not cracking a single smile. "Well, Bakura and your friend Ryou went for a walk last night, and wanted to walk around for a little more even after Bakura said it wasn't safe and that she should go to bed. Honestly, I've never heard anyone argue with Bakura so... strongly." He chuckled for a moment. "I think he likes her.

"Anyway, so she walked off on her own, and then, after hemming and hawing to himself for a few minutes, Bakura went after her. But, that was late last night, and no one's heard from 'em since. Everyone else went out looking for them this just a few minutes ago, but Yami suggested I stay here and guard you."

He took his hand off her shoulder, letting it drop idly onto his lap. "Believe me, sitting around here and watching you sleep was enjoyable, but it actually wasn't my first choice of things to do. I wanted to go help search, but... when Yami speaks, I obey."

Mariku frowned, fear for what could have happened to her friend taking precedence over any fear she felt for the man sitting beside her. "Could... could they be dueling someone, you think?"

Malik shrugged, looking away from her. "I dunno. But, since they've been gone for so long, and considering how short their duel against Keith and Bonz lasted... it seems unlikely."

"We should go look for them."

The Egyptian stood up, almost grinning as he gripped her and hauled her to her feet, catching her off guard for an instant. Mariku lost her balance due to his yanking on her, and she suddenly found herself in his arms, her chin flat against his chest, glaring up at the pervert above her.

He smirked at her. "First you pretend not to want me, and then you throw yourself at me. Why don't you make up your mind, you little hellcat!"

"Oh, shut up, you flipping bastard!"

Snarling and snapping like an angry wildcat, Mariku shoved herself off of the man and began to stalk off, muttering long strands of words under her breath.

Malik shrugged and snickered to himself as he followed behind her.

"So, can I ask you who Ishizu is?"

The Kenyan turned to glare at Malik, who was walking a few feet from her. "Where did you hear that name?"

He shrugged. "It was one of the things you said in your sleep. Anyone important?"

"... my older sister. She's practically my mother, though, since she's the one who really raised me."

Malik cocked an eyebrow curiously, his lips looking rather unfamiliar for the moment because they weren't smirking – he looked strangely serious. "I can relate to that."

The younger girl looked at him, her face just as curious as his. By this point, very little of her mind was actually focused on the task at hand of finding their missing friends.

Malik shrugged dismissively. "My mother died during childbirth, since good doctors were kind of hard to come by at the time, and my father blamed her death on me. … I guess he was _sort of_ right. … At any rate, I was mostly raised by my older sister, Isis. Which is cool, actually."

He looked at her. "So, I'll guess that you're story is similar, then."

"Yeah... Except my parents divorced before anyone died, and frankly it was a mess."

The Egyptian man gazed at her, carefully regarding the cool disposition with which she spoke of her parents. "Not the best, huh?"

"... my mother was a heroin addict until just last year, when she died in a car crash, so I lived with my father, who's a bit... well, there's no way in #$% he could ever win a Father of the Year Award."

Mariku paused, wondering why she was talking about her family. She hardly ever talked about them with her friends, so why was she spilling her guts to some guy she just met and still wasn't sure she trusted?

Why was Malik so easy to talk to?

"Did he beat you?"

She whipped her head back to stare at Malik, the serious look on his face completely disarming her.

"... often..." she finally whispered.

To her surprise, Malik reached out took her hand in his, holding it tightly. "It's not the easiest sort of life, is it?"

She shook her head, blonde locks of hair slapping violently against tanned cheeks. Her violet eyes began to sting, but she closed them and bit down harshly on her lip, promising herself that she wouldn't cry. It had been years since she cried, and she wasn't going to start up again now.

"Bad..." she whispered, her tongue easily finding the proper vent as her frightened eyes glazed over. Memories filled her mind and fueled her voice as she went on. "Horrible, awful, no good, lame, terrible, sick, twisted, ill..."

Malik tilted his head to the side, watching her and listening to her, but saying nothing. He ran his thumb over her fingers softly, silently willing her to come back down to earth.

It took a lot of time and a lot of patience, but he finally broke through to her, gently pulling her back to him. "Wake up, Mariku."

"... demon, monster, #$%, evil man..."

"Mariku."

Slowly, her eyes lost their hazy look and they began to sharpen and focus on him.

"That's it, kitten, just focus on me. You're safe for the moment, I promise. No one is going to harm you, not like that, not here and now."

She stared up at him for a moment, then looked away sharply, trying to hide her eyes from his gaze. "I'm sorry. It's just... it's kind of a touchy subject."

"No kidding."

Both stood in silence for a moment, the world around them completely forgotten. Their silence was awkward, and their minds both filled with many thoughts and questions.

It was Malik who found his tongue first. "Why do you create lists of words all the time?"

Mariku gave him an awkward half-smile. "I was born with a mental disorder. My mother always made sure that I was given the proper treatment – medicine, therapy, and the like – and I was behaving like a normal child by the time I was ten. They always told me I was lucky, since I was always progressing and improving. But..."

She sighed and looked away again. "Then Mother started doing drugs and ended up killing herself. And Father was just so angry at the world that, rather than take further care of me, he began to beat me. I think... I think he just needed an outlet, and I couldn't outrun him fast enough.

"Ishizu was already married and moved out of the house, since she's so much older than me, and it was a while before she found out what was really going on. Good grief, she was just always at work and she almost never even called to see how things were going at home and it was almost seven whole _freaking months_ before she even learned that Mother was dead!"

Malik became concerned as he listened the cracking and breaking sound in Mariku's voice as she spoke; he reached out and wrapped his arms around her protectively, holding her close and trying to soothe her.

"Ishizu says..." the girl murmured in a low voice. "Ishizu says that, between my born brain damage and all the trauma I went through in such a short time, I have some sort of mild psychological disorder. I've gone through _a lot_ of therapy, and I'm a lot better now, but... sometimes... when I'm scared... I just... make word lists."

She shrugged. "The doctors say it's a psychological defense. Like, my brain is putting up some sort of wall to block everything out by focusing on words."

Malik looked down at her, allowing everything she was saying to sink into his thick skull. Clearly, Mariku had led a decidedly hard life, and hopefully it could only get better from there.

"You and I are exactly alike, you know."

She looked up at him sharply, her eyebrows cocked.

"Well, think about it. We both have a rotten past with our families, we were both raised by our sisters, we're both blonde – except my hair is naturally blonde, not bleached-"

"HEY!"

"-and we're both not quite right in the head," he finished, ignoring her outcry completely.

She smirked up at him. "Yeah, but I'm not a flipping pervert, you stinking bastard!"

Malik burst out laughing and, much to his surprise, he noticed that Mariku was giggling as well. And, just for a moment, everything about the entire world was perfect.

But, all good things must come to an end, or so the sudden buzzing from his phone painfully reminded him, and he suddenly remembered why they were even out walking in the woods by themselves anyway.

"Ryou!" Mariku suddenly cried out as the Egyptian looked to his phone.

Malik stared at the screen curiously, reading the text from his cousin. "It's a text from Ate-–Yami. It just says that I'm supposed to go up to Pegasus's castle." He snorted, seriously ticked at his cousin, ruler of a nation or not. "It doesn't even say why or if I'm supposed to bring you or not! How stupid is that?!"

He turned to stare as Mariku's phone rang and she answered it, apparently getting an _actual_ person and _actual_ information.

"That was Anzu," she explained after putting her cell phone back into her pocket. "She says that Otogi and Honda found Ryou and Bakura, but they're in pretty bad shape. Everyone else is up at Pegasus' castle, getting them some medical treatment."

"Oh sure, Anzu gives you the play-by-play, but all I get is 'come to the castle!'"

Mariku frowned and tugged harshly at his hand. "Let's just go."

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